come home with us for a while. We’ll form a united front to repel all invaders.”
Beth’s smile faded. “And I’ll be safe and comfortable and protected by both of you.”
“Yes.” There was something in Beth’s expression that caused Eve to stiffen. “Is something wrong, Beth?”
“What could be wrong? You’re two wonderful people who care about me. I’d be foolish not to snatch what you’re offering me.”
“Yes, you would.” Kendra spoke for the first time, her gaze on Beth’s face. “But maybe you have a right to be foolish.” She turned and moved away from them. “Not my business. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Eve’s gaze had not left Beth. “I don’t understand. You don’t want to go with us?”
“I do want to go with you,” Beth said passionately. “I want to be safe. I want to be with you, to get to know you even better, to be part of your life.” She paused. “I want that so much that I know that it’s wrong.”
“Explain.”
“I don’t have the right to be safe. I haven’t taken any chances, I haven’t experimented, I haven’t made terrible mistakes, I haven’t conquered Mt. Everest, I haven’t learned how to make friends and keep them. For God’s sake, I’m still a virgin.”
Eve had to smile. “I believe we’ve addressed that particular problem before. We have no intention of keeping you from doing any of those things, Beth. We just want to be there to support you.”
“And I’m grateful. You can’t know how grateful I am. But there’s a part of me that wants desperately to go back to that life I lived at the hospital. I don’t know if that was part of the posthypnotic suggestion or if I just became accustomed to the routine and care. All I know is that if I want to be free, I can’t have supports to prop me up. I might lean on them too much.” She smiled shakily. “Please. It’s not because I don’t care. I’d love to be with you. Maybe someday I’ll be able to take what you want to give me. You and Joe are very strong. You’re generous, and you’d want to keep me from getting hurt. But that’s not the way I’ll learn to be a complete person, is it? You have your own lives, your own careers. I have to find mine, Eve.”
Eve could feel her eyes sting as she gazed at her. “It’s not because I’m being generous that I want you to come home with us. I’m being selfish. I don’t want to worry about you.” She swallowed. “But I’ll just have to get over it, won’t I?” She drew a deep breath. “Okay, you don’t have to come live with us. But there are a couple things that you should do. Come to the cottage for a couple days, then I’ll let you walk away. I want you to meet Sandra.”
Beth stiffened. “I don’t know if I want to meet her. I can’t understand how she wouldn’t care about you.”
“You’re being defensive. Perhaps she does care about me in her way. But I know that she loves you. Remember what you said to me? You don’t give up on people because they’re not what you want them to be.”
“But I don’t love her.”
“Give her a chance. I would never have known about you, never come to help you, if she hadn’t loved you enough to tell me about you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Eve looked at her.
“Oh, all right.” She was suddenly smiling again. “See, if I lived with you and Joe, I’d always be doing the right thing and not what I want to do.” She gave Eve another hug. “And now I’m going to call Billy and tell him the news. I think we should all go somewhere and celebrate, don’t you?”
“Excellent idea.” She watched her take her phone out of the pocket of her robe and go to the atrium rail and start to dial. Beth was glowing, eyes sparkling, expression as vivacious as that of the teenage girl she had been all those years ago. Eve felt a pang of emotion that was a mixture of joy and sadness.
No, banish any hint of sadness, embrace the joy. New life. New opportunities for her sister.
And a new set of anxieties for Eve.
“She sent you packing?” Kendra had come to stand beside her. “I could have told you, Eve.”
“She was very polite about sending me on my way.” She glanced at Kendra. “How did you know?”